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Toshiro had been right –Ichigo wasn't about to give up on recruiting Izumi to Squad 5 so easily. Ichigo had given him a dark look as he had left with his own new recruits. He was obviously seething, but didn't want to make his displeasure public.

A few days after the ceremony, Momo had turned up at the Squad 10 Barracks, looking sheepish. She had presented Toshiro a request to promote Izumi to 7th Seat in Squad 5.

"Have you taken this to Izumi yet?" Toshiro asked, handing it back to her.

"No," Momo said. She had her own instinct that was telling her that Izumi would refuse it. "I wanted your opinion first. How likely is it that she will accept?"

"I would say that she'll refuse," Toshiro said, settling back in his chair. He looked out of his window, to where Izumi was sparring with a few veterans of Squad 10. "She's not as ambitious as some of my new recruits. She's hard-working, as if she wasn't a genius. I get the feeling that she won't accept any transfer of raise in status, unless she feels she deserves it."

"Then I'd better get this over and done with," Momo sighed and left the Captain's room. She settled in a quiet room to wait while Toshiro sent an order to her to report to the room.

X

"So what did she say?" Ichigo asked the moment Momo entered his office.

"She refused, Captain," Momo replied. "She's only a new member of Squad 10, and she hasn't got a feel for them yet."

Ichigo sighed and got up. He should have guessed Izumi would refuse –she wasn't the sort who liked to depend on others. For now, he had his own recruits to attend to and train after ignoring them for the last few days.

X

Over at the Squad 10 Barracks, a crowd of veterans and new recruits had gathered to watch Izumi. For a new member fresh out of the Academy, it was obvious she was no pushover.

One of the spectators was the Captain. He was watching the fight and noticed that Izumi who could keep on equal footing with some of his best and most seasoned Seats. Of course, it was no surprise to those who had graduated with her and knew her skill the best.

He had sparred with every other new recruit –it was a good way for the Captain to analyse the recruit's strengths and weaknesses. He felt as though he was saving the best for last.

As Izumi's opponent fell back, Toshiro drew his zanpukto and used Flash-step to get behind her. A hush fell as Izumi sensed his approach and locked blades with her Captain. This promised to be quite a spectacle.

For a while, both fought with their zanpuktos sealed as they matched skill against skill. Then the Captain leapt to the roof and rasied his zanpukto into the sky. The other Squad members leapt onto the other roofs –they had a feeling they knew what was coming.

"Reign over the frozen heavens, Hyorimaru!"

The dragon formed from all the water in the atmosphere and the temperature around the arena plummeted. All of Squad 10 felt the awesome power that surrounded them –this was a rare spectacle.

"Blaze, Fenikagi!"

Izumi's fire-based phoenix shredded his more modest sealed from for the flame-enveloped sword that was his shikai form. It was a direct challenge to the ice of the Captain's zanpukto.

An ice-dragon blossomed at the tip of the Captain's zanpukto, charging straight for Izumi. It slowed upon reaching the wall of her reitsu as she made it shimmer like heat-waves of fire, but it didn't stop. As it ploughed through, Izumi manipulated the tongue of flame surrounding the blade into a whip, using it to pull it off-course.

But as one dragon fell, another three took its place. Unleashing her spiritual energy in expanding rings, Izumi was able to deflect the shikai attacks, all the time avoiding clashing with the Captain.

So far Toshiro was impressed –his other recruits had not lasted to this point. But this was more than a battle of swordplay. It was a clash between the two forces of nature that never stopped shifting the balance. Fire could melt ice, and ice could stop a fire's flames. The struggle was eternal.

And Izumi had a complete mastery of her fire-based zanpukto, and was as skilled with fire as he was with the ice. They were matched in shikai, but there was a reason that Toshiro was the Captain.

"Bunkai!" he stated and his reitsu increased tenfold. It was too much for most of his Squad, who fell to their knees, but Izumi stood firm. She knew about the Bunkai release, and knew the names of the various Captains' Bunkai forms, but seeing it was another matter. She was as thrilled as she was awestruck.

Wings formed over Hitsugaya's shoulders as he fused with his zanpukto's spirit. Twelve lotus flowers appeared around him –an indication of how long he could maintain his Bunkai form. It had increased dramatically since the end of the Winter War.

"Daiguren Hyorimaru," he proclaimed.

He could sense her spiritual pressure growing as she raised her defences –it looked as though she was preparing to make a final stand.

As he dived at Izumi, he saw flames encircle her –a last line of defence. Her stance shifted as she let go of any reliance on defence and focused all her energy for one final attack.

"Fly!" she commanded. Toshiro watched as a phoenix made out of the flames around her rose and soared at him.

It was beautiful and incredibly breath-taking for a final attack. The whole Squad felt its heat and held its collective breath at the sight. Toshiro almost didn't want to destroy it, but he had to win this fight.

The phoenix was frozen over by one of the dragons that emanated from the Captain's sword. Before Izumi had a chance to either summon a new one or recover her defence, her Captain's sword was at her throat.

The fight was over.

As Toshiro left, applause broke out. The members of Squad 10 were in awe of their new recruit, able to face off against their Captain almost as an equal. She had held off his shikai and resisted the power of his Bunkai,

And Izumi felt her awe for her new Captain turn into a great respect.